Persona 4: The Second Justice
by Konigstiger726
Summary: What if Ryotaro had a teenage son? Wait, what's... Great. Now he's getting dragged into the plot. That's great. Just great. This is a novelization of Persona 4, with an extra character involved. Sorry for the lazy title, but it's all I can think of to name it. The M rating on this is mainly for strong language, as well as to satisfy my love of dirty humor.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Family

_**Chapter 1: Welcome to the Family**_

 **So this is something I've been thinking about doing for the longest time, and finally, I decided to post this for the internet to enjoy. Whether they actually do enjoy it or not, well, we'll see. As for now: I don't own the Persona series, or the Shin Megami Tensei series (if I did, Yu would be the ultimate playboy). I just own Matsuda's ass (whether he likes it or not).**

"Normal Talking"

 **"Shadow Talking"**

 _"Technology"_

'Thoughts'

 **Scene Changes**

Time and Weather Changes

 **POV: General**

 **City Train Station**

Monday, April 11, 2011 | Daytime | Cloudy

A silver-haired boy stood by the tracks of the train station, a forlorn look on his face. His attire consisted of a white button-up with a black blazer and black dress pants.

'A whole year...' he thought to himself, his head spinning from that thought alone. These thoughts were interrupted by the screech of a train's brakes scraping against the rails. The silverette took himself out of his musings to get himself into one of the cars of the train.

He placed his stuff on the rack above his seat and sighed, sitting himself down. 'A whole year... At least that's longer than usual...' He lifted a small flip phone from his pocket and stared at the message that he received from his uncle earlier today.

 _"Meet us at Yasoinaba Station at 4pm. - Dojima Ryotaro."_ He closed the phone and placed it back into his pocket, intent on sleeping through the ride.

 **POV: Dojima Matsuda**

 **Dojima Residence**

Daytime | Rainy

I looked around my recently tidied room with a sigh and a slightly annoyed expression on my face. My father had insisted that I clean it for my cousin, wanting me to leave a good impression of myself. I almost laughed at the thought. 'Me? A good impression? That's hilarious…' was the thought that slipped through my mind at that request.

I exited the soon-to-be shared room and went downstairs. I saw my sister and dad watching the news as I did so, and turned my attention to the clock hanging over the hallway entrance. _"3:40."_

I looked back at my family. "Train arrives in twenty minutes," I informed them. "We should get going."

My father was a tall, gruff and strong-jawed man, with short black hair that barely touched his forehead. Five o'clock shadow shaded his face. He wore a gray button-up with a brown tie and brown dress pants, fitting for his occupation.

Next to him was my younger sister. Her face was round and had the fullness expected of a six-year-old, with her brown hair tied up into a double ponytails. She was wearing a white sweater with a blue sweater vest over it.

The former of the two looked up at the clock I had observed seconds before, and nodded. "Yes, it's about that time." He stood up from his seated position, my sister pulling herself up with him.

"Let's go," he said, leading us to his car.

 **POV: Narukami Yu**

 **Train**

I stared out the window of the train car, sighing at the rolling fields. Just seeing that was enough to make me feel out of place. It was the complete opposite of the cities I was used to staying in.

The town I was supposed to spend a year in, Inaba, was out in the middle of nowhere, and the few amount of people in the train car made something pretty clear to me. Almost no one knew about this small town. And there were still a couple of stops left before Yasoinaba.

I felt my heavy eyelids slowly close, leaving me to the dreams I was bound to have. A quick ten to twenty minute nap wouldn't hurt.

 **Unknown  
**

My eyes shot open. I felt my surroundings shift, and quickly took in the sudden change.

I was on the inside of a limousine, with everything from the floor to the objects in the limo to the ceiling, all of these were in a deep shade of blue, lined in velvet. I peered outside the window to see nothing but fog and road, which only served to make my anxiety about the sudden shift worse.

It was only after taking this in that I saw the other occupants in the room. One was what some would call a goblin-man, with an extremely long nose, literally inches long. His ears were pointed, and his eyes were scarily wide, almost popping out of his damned head. You could see the red veins in them, and his extremely small pupils didn't help with his image. He had long, white hair forming around the sides of his head, with his scalp and forehead completely bare. He was also hunched over, wearing what would closely describe the stereotypical butler uniform: Black suit with a pair of white gloves.s

Of course, if it wasn't for his odd appearance, I would have paid more attention to the other person in the room. It was a beautiful woman, wearing what can only be described as a blue bellhop uniform, with long, somewhat curly and pale-blonde hair let down to the bottom of her neck, with strange, yet enticingly green eyes.

The older man looked up at me, and a freakishly large grin broke out onto his face. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

 **POV: Dojima Matsuda**

 **Road to Yasoinaba Station**

I blinked slowly, staring out the car window tiredly, watching as raindrops started to down the passenger side window. My sister, in the seat right behind me, followed my example, staring out the window.

My father looked over at us, only to shoot his eyes back to the road a split-second later. "You two alright?" he asked, a slight bit of concern in his tone.

I shrugged uncaringly, not really wanting to divulge any of my problems onto my family's shoulder. "Nothing..." I said.

My father sighed at my answer, but, unwilling to push the subject with me, answered with, "Alright."

After an uncomfortable, yet thankfully short car ride, we arrived at Yasoinaba a couple minutes early. My dad sighed and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. I was uncaring towards the situation and ended up getting myself something out of a nearby vending machine.

 **POV: Narukami Yu**

I walked out of the station, fully awake after the weird dream I had just had. I looked around for a moment, trying to decipher which of the very few people here was my uncle.

This was solved almost immediately by the shout of who I assume is my uncle.

"Over here!" I turned my head to the side to see a man waving me over, with a teenage boy of my age to his left, and a young grade-schooler to his right.

The boy had short, unkempt black hair. His eyes had dark circles under them, and were a dull shade of grey, though they had a strangely happy light in them, as if he was laughing to himself. The pupils in said eyes were larger than average, almost as if they were dilated, adding to the creepy effect of them. He wore a grayish white, oversized T-shirt with blue jeans to match it, one of his hands shoved haphazardly into his pocket. Over the T-shirt was a gray hoodie, with the hood over his head. Combining that and his eyes, and he came off as somewhat creepy. He waved a hand at me, gesturing me over to him.

 **POV: Dojima Matsuda**

I laughed to myself at a joke I just came up with. 'Heheh... silver-hair... silverware...' My own sense of humor disappoints me sometimes…

He walked over, greeting us with a short nod. My father gave him a smile and thrusted his hand out to him.

Yu accepted the handshake, and my dad greeted him. "And you must be Narukami Yu. Well, you're more handsome in person than in the photo." Yu took the compliment, answering with what was more of an off-handed comment more than anything.

"It's been a while," he said, getting a quick nod from my father.

"Yeah," he responded. "You've really grown. I remember when you were in diapers." The silverette gave him a look at the comment, which had my father rubbing the back of his neck. "Right..."

"Well," he continued, breaking the awkwardness of the moment, "I'm your mother's younger brother, which sums that up… These are my kids," he said, gesturing to us. I walked up to my cousin, holding a hand out.

"Name's Dojima Matsuda. Welcome to the family!" I said overly enthusiastically. "You'll be signing the papers when we get home. Once that's done, you gotta sign up for the full package. This includes your rights as a human being, your refrigerator privileges, and your bathroom privileges. It'll cost extra for a room to sl-" My long introduction was rudely interrupted by my dad tapping my shoulder, holding a hand to his face as he shook his head.

"Ignore him," he said. "He's just pulling your leg." I gave my dad the straightest face I could manage.

"I actually have the paperwork." I could see the uncertainty in his eye, before I broke out into a grin, unable to hold my blank face. He sighed and once again shook his head.

"I can't believe I even considered that the truth for a single second..." he looked back to my sister and gestured for her to come up to her cousin.

"This is Nanako," he introduced. He tapped her back. "Come on, say hi."

Nanako hid behind my dad's leg and gave a quiet "Hello." Yu gave her a little friendly wave.

My father chuckled at her quiet introduction. "Why are you being so shy?" he asked her. Nanako gave him a small smack on the leg, getting a small bark of laughter from me, while my father let out a small "Ow," before laughing with me. There was a short silence between the four of us, and my father eventually asked that we get in the car.

 **Central Shopping District**

After about fifteen minutes of driving, we stopped at a gas station right outside of the Central Shopping District. The pumping assistant ran up from the front of the store, coming around the side of the car. "Welcome to Moel!" he (or is it a she? I can't tell…) greeted.

My father looked back to my sister. "Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?" he asked. Nanako gave a noise of confirmation.

"The bathroom's in the back," suggested the attendant, "It'll be on the left. You know which way's left?" he asked, setting up some sort of joke or something. "The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."

Nanako sighed at what the attendant said. "I know... Geez."

The attendant must've saw my cousin's bag or something, and decided to make conversation. "So you guys just got back from a trip? Or are you going on a trip?"

My father shook his head. "No, we're just picking this one up," he said, pointing his thumb back at Yu. "He just moved from the city."

"City, huh?" said the attendant in what I assumed was false interest.

My dad got out of the car. "Fill the tank," he requested from the attendant. "Regular, please." He pulled his cigarettes out and went away from the station.

I sighed in boredom and stared outside window. My cousin got out of the car and took a breath of fresh air. The attendant turned his attention to the silverette. "So are you in high school?" he asked, probably recognizing the uniform.

Yu nodded, and the attendant continued. "It must be surprising to see how little there is out here. You'll get bored fast. In the end, you'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing a part-time job." The attendant looked over at the store, and nodded to him/herself. "Speaking of, we're actually looking for part-time help. It'd be nice if you joined us. We don't mind if you're a student." He held his hand out to my cousin, to which he accepted. The attendant looked over at my father, and nodded to him/herself. "I should start filling up the car."

My sister had come back to the car, and looked up to my cousin. Somewhat suddenly, the boy grabbed his head, as if he had some sort of headache.

"You doing alright?" I asked through the window. He nodded, blowing it off as exhaustion.

Eventually, my dad got back from his smoke break, and got into the car. "Alright. Let's get going."

 **POV: Narukami Yu**

 **Dojima Residence**

Evening | Rainy

We were sitting around a coffee table, which seemed to serve as our dinner table. "Let's make a toast," started my uncle. We held our glasses up, and all took a sip of whatever we were drinking. Once that had gotten done with, the middle-aged man looked over at me.

"So your parents are busy as always, eh?" I nodded, reminded of the reason that I was moved here.

My parents work for some sort of shipping company, one that I never bothered to learn the name of. They had a job that would require them to be working overseas for the next year. They did this sort of thing a lot. Move somewhere, leave me with someone, and come back to get me for maybe a month or two. It's a tediously annoying cycle. One that I've got to deal with until I'm old enough to get a job.

"I know it's only for a year..." continued Dojima-san, "It must be a pain to be moving around like that. It's gotta be rough." He took a pause. "Well, it's just me and my children here, so go ahead and make yourself at home. I'm sure these two will enjoy the extra company," he gestured to my cousins, the older of which was watching the TV disinterestedly, while the younger was paying more attention to her food than her dad's speech.

I looked over at Dojima-san, giving him a small bow. "Thank you for letting me live here." He waved off the gesture.

"Don't be so formal about it. We _are_ family."

The older man was about to eat his own food, but was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. Matsuda-san's face notably dropped into a frown, as well as Nanako-chan's.

Dojima-san let out a sigh, staring at the small device. "...Who's calling at this hour?" He flipped open the phone. "Dojima speaking." There was a small pause for the caller to get in some words. "Yeah? I see... Well where is it?" He let out another sigh. "Alright. I'm on my way."

He closed the phone and turned back to us, muttering "Looks like it was a good idea to skip the booze..." he looked down to us from his now standing position. "Sorry, but I need to go take care of some business." He looked over to his son. "Help him out, okay?" The teen nodded and Dojima-san walked towards the front door.

"It's raining... Nanako, did you take in the laundry?" he called from the doorway.

"I brought it in already!" Nanako called back.

"Alright. I'm heading out." The front door shut, leaving me with the two youngest of the house.

There was an awkward silence, before the news suddenly cut it off. _"-for this week. Next, let's take a look at the hourly breakdown of tomorrow's weather. With storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas."_

This did little to raise the uneasy tension from the room. Eventually the two Dojima children were staring at me, Matsuda-san with a neutral expression, and Nanako-chan with slight anxiety. Eventually, the silence got to me, and I asked the first question.

"So what does your father do?" I asked. Matsuda's face suddenly lost its neutrality, dropping into a frown.

 **POV: Dojima Matsuda**

I felt my facial expression drop. My father's job is not a very enjoyable topic, and the regret on Yu's face shows that he realized that topic is sort of taboo.

Honestly I was hoping to get the first question off. I was curious about the city. Never seen it before. I thought it'd be interesting to hear about.

"Uh... He's a cop. Detective, specifically," I said disinterestedly.

Before the conversation could get any more awkward, the news continued to blare out of the TV. _"And now for the local news. City council secretary Namatame Taro is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter. His wife, enka ballad sensation Hiiragi Misuzu, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages."_

Ah, politics. The ultimate friendship destroyer. I don't particularly care for it. But, since I have nothing better to watch, might as well watch politicians be idiots. _"In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of the announcer Yamano Mayumi's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Namatame-san are resolved, she will remain off the air and out of the public eye."_

Before the news could elaborate more, my sister yawned. "...This is boring." She took the remote and changed the channel.

 _"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!"_ A little jingle played at the end of the commercial, something my sister repeated.

"Everyday's great at your Junes!" I can't stand that damned jingle because I hear it everywhere, but my sister just sings it in the most adorably off-key way. I sighed at that, and looked over at the hall clock.

9:04. Wow. Time flew faster than my hand does when I… nevermind…

I patted Nanako on the shoulder. And pointed up at the clock. "You gotta get to bed." I told her. She sighed and walked off to her room, leaving me with the dishes.

Once those were done, I gestured for my cousin to follow me. "Let's head upstairs."

 **POV: Narukami Yu**

Matsuda-san's room was oddly clean. Well, it was odd because he didn't seem like the type of guy who would bother with his room. It was also surprising how large the space was. It's actually a pretty good thing, considering it's shared by two people.

There was a table in the middle of the room, with a black couch to the right of the door, right up against a wall and on that wall was a window. There's a shelf to the left of the door, with a bunch of random models and figurines on it, ranging anywhere from tanks to a giant robot. On the left wall was a dresser, with an old antenna TV on it.

"Welcome to our bedroom," he said. He pointed towards a futon next to the large shelf. "That's yours. Mine's over there." He pointed towards a futon right in front of a desk.

I excused myself from the room for a moment, heading to change into some sleep clothing. When I came back, the light was off, and Matsuda-san was staring at the ceiling, probably trying to fall asleep. He hadn't even changed into any sort of pajamas.

I sighed and laid down on my new futon, remember the dream I had on the train.

Earlier Today

 **Velvet Room**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." I looked at the hunched over man, who was grinning madly at me with wide, unblinking eyes. His voice was an unusually high pitch, though it seemed to fit him well. He let out a surprised noise. "It seems we have a guest with an... intriguing destiny..." he let out a little chuckle. Once he had finished, he looked at me and greeted me. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

Igor, as he called himself, gestured to the room itself. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract may enter... It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then, Why don't you introduce yourself?"

With hesitation, I greeted him with my name. "Narukami Yu." The aged man nodded.

"I see." He pulled out a deck of cards, though these are cards I've never seen before. They had different symbols on them, from towers to people, without any sort of number. "Let us take a look into your future, shall we?" Igor asked, leaving me confused. Noticing this, he grinned up at me. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" He turned his attention to his cards again. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different..." He let out another chuckle. "Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" He placed down a card from the deck.

"Hm... The Tower in the upright position. That represents the immediate future. It appears that a terrible catastrophe is imminent."

This led me to sighing. So right after I move off to a small town miles away from my home, I'm going to suffer catastrophe along with that. The luck. Then again, I never really believed in fortune telling, so maybe I won't.

"The card indicating the future beyond this..." He pulled another card out, placing it down. "The moon, in the upright position. This represents "hesitation," and "mystery." Very interesting indeed."

After he said this, I realized something. I hadn't asked a single _fucking_ question.

"Where am I?!" I immediately asked.

The hunched man gave a small murmur of laughter. "As I said, this is the Velvet Room. If you are worried about your sudden disappearance from the real world, I would not worry. You are fast asleep in the real world."

That answered... two of several. "Okay, Then why am I here?!"

Another chuckle. "That is because soon, you will have signed a contract, and then after that, you will return here." I would've asked more, but he had cut me off before I could get the first syllable out. "The coming year is a turning point in your destiny... If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be lost forever." He put a hand to his chest. "My role here is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."

I gestured to the admittedly beautiful woman next to Igor. "Okay, who's she?" Igor looked to the woman.

"Ah. My apologies. I have neglected to introduce to you my assistant. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself." She gave a small bow.

"I'm Margaret," she said, her voice smooth. "I am here to accompany you through your journey."

Igor looked towards me. "I shall give you the details another time. For now, you are about to awaken. Until then, farewell..."

Present

I blinked at the oddity of it. 'It's just a dream...' I thought to myself. '...Right?' Well, fate has a funny way of messing with you.

 **And that's the first chapter. I thought I did decently enough. As you can see, I'm not including the Golden stuff I don't know Marie's character enough, and I've only played the PS2 version anyway. Nothing major happening yet (though for anyone knowing how the story goes, you know when it'll pick up.) As you can see, the main points of view are gonna be Yu and Matsuda. Maybe the occasional third person perspective. I hope you enjoyed. This is the first time I've ever posted something like this, so it was awkward as fuck getting it out there. Tell if you thought it was good, bad, and tell me how to improve on it. Also tell me if any characters are being OOC.**


	2. Chapter 2: Bad Omens

_**Chapter 2: Bad Omens**_

"Normal Talking"

 **"Shadow Talking"**

 _"Technology"_

'Thoughts'

 **Scene Changes**

Time and Weather Changes

 **Well… two months. Not much I can really say to that. Nonetheless, people actually read this, and some actually liked it, not to mention the reviews I have so far.**

 **Sorry it took so long to update this thing. But now that the second chapter is here, I hope you like it, and I hope those who have liked it continue to like it.**

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 | Morning | Rainy

I felt the annoying drill of an alarm burst into my eardrum, and groaned, my eyes still heavy in my half-asleep state. However, in my hesitance to get up, I found myself trying to ignore it.

If anyone has ever had an alarm, you know that's an impossible task. Eventually I sighed, and got up from my futon, eager to shut the thing up.

'Why did I have this thing on again…?' I thought to myself. 'It's not like I have to… Oh… Yeah… School.' I almost forgot that I had school.

I looked over to my cousin, who was getting off of his own futon, and sighed. I grabbed my uniform from my dresser and got myself dressed.

The outfit that I wore consisted of a white button-up shirt, which I refused to tuck into the black dress pants that came with it. There was a blazer to go with the outfit, but I just replaced it with my hoodie. They didn't really enforce the uniform rule too well so it doesn't really matter.

Once I had made myself decent for school, I wandered downstairs to see that my sister had made everyone breakfast. I sat next to the six-year-old and started eating. My cousin came down several minutes later and joined us.

He looked around for a moment before he turned his attention to me. "Where's your father?" he asked, getting a frown from me.

"He's probably already left for work," I replied, before changing the subject almost immediately. "So how'd you sleep last night?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Not much different than before I got here, honestly. Had some weird dream last night, though I don't exactly remember what it was about."

I gave him a shrug. "Eh. I have weird dreams all the time. They're often enough to where having a normal dream is weird…" I looked up at the clock and gave it a glare. "We should get going."

I quickly swiped up an umbrella and we exited the house

 **POV: Yu**

 **Road to Yasogami High School**

We walked down the wet roads towards where I assume the school was. Matsuda had a blank look on his face, probably more occupied on his own thoughts, while Nanako was hovering near the older Dojima. Eventually, we came upon an intersection where Matsuda and Nanako had stopped.

"See ya, Nanako," he said, Nanako saying the same.

I watched as Nanako walked down one of the roads, leaving Matsuda and I to continue down towards the high school.

This was so different than the city. It's smacked me like a ton of bricks. In the city, I had to take a subway to get anywhere. But here… despite being, according to Matsuda, "across the whole damn town," the school was still within walking distance. A couple of miles of walking, and you can get there.

It was sort of a culture shock.

We walked like that for several minutes of silence, neither of us really caring to break it. The only thing that had really done so was when some random cyclist came by us and nearly ran over Matsuda.

"Jesus fuck!" he shouted, dodging to the side of the bike as it smacked into a nearby wall.

Matsuda looked over to me, brushing his pants off in the process. "And that, my dear cousin, is why we wear pads when riding," he said, before casting another glance at the bicyclist who was writhing in pain. "And why we don't hold umbrellas in one hand and bike with the other…"

We walked past the biker, eventually making it to the school gate.

 **Yasogami High School**

We entered through the gates of the school, entered into the main entrance, and Matsuda pointed down the hallway. "Faculty Office's down there. You can ask one of your teachers about your classroom there. If you need me, I'll be headed upstairs." He left to go to presumably his classroom.

I followed his directions and went into the faculty office. In there was probably one of the weirdest looking teachers I had ever seen. His teeth protruded from his mouth in a horrible overbite, and his hair was in a weird style as well. He was wearing a blue suit that was very hastily put on, from the looks of it, and was giving me the meanest glare a man could muster.

"Who're you?" he questioned rudely, before a look of realization came to his face. "Oh. Right. You're that transfer that's supposed to be in my class." He gestured to follow him, and we walked up to the classroom. 2-B.

We entered into the room, and I was immediately surprised to see Matsuda sitting down in the class, sitting next to the guy that nearly ran him over earlier. He was reading a book, which intrigued me. Similarly to the situation of his room being clean, he didn't look to be someone who'd spend time reading.

The teacher walked up next to me and started to address the class. "Awright, shut your traps!" he shouted at them. "I'm Morooka Kinshiro, your homeroom teacher from today forward. First thing's first! Just because it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons! As long as I'm here, you're gonna be as pure as the driven snow!" He finished his small scolding by gesturing to me. "Now, this sad sack's been thrown here from the city like yesterday's garbage. And he's just as much a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not start hitting on him!"

He turned his glare over to me, making my eye twitch slightly. "Now tell 'em your name kid, and be quick about it."

What the hell is this guy's problem? "Did you just call me a loser…?" I questioned in an almost sarcastic response.

His glare deepened at my words, and scoffed. "Fine. You're on my shit list, effective immediately. Now listen up!" He got into my face, making me squirm. "This town is miles away from the perverts and assholes of the city, in more ways than one. So don't you even think about getting with the girls here, let alone abusing them!" He rolled his eyes. "But what do I know? It's not like the old days. Even in the boonies, these kids grow up so damned fast! Checking their phones and shit whenever I turn my back…"

This… rant of his went on for a few minutes, and he just did not shut up. He went on and on about topics that didn't even relate to the subject matter anymore.

It was only thanks to the help of a girl wearing a green sweater that I managed to get myself away from the teacher. "Excuse me!" she questioned, interrupting the disheveled teacher. "Is it okay if the transfer sits here?" I gave her a grateful smile as Morooka gave her a confused look.

"Eh?" He turned to look at me, and his eyes seemed to shine with realization. "Oh. Yeah. Your seat's there. So go siddown already!"

I quickly followed the teacher's demand, and sat next to the girl. She leaned over and started to whisper to me. "He's the worst, isn't he?" she said knowingly. "Sucks that you gotta be in here."

"I can't believe I got stuck with this dickhead two years in a row…" I heard my cousin mutter behind me. I leaned back to him.

"Is he always this bad…?" I asked him, only for him to give me a deadpan expression.

"Depends on if he's on his period or not. Trust me, you'll know when he is…"

Well… that's a vulgar way of saying it.

After School | Cloudy

Morooka looked up at the clock above the doorway, and sighed. "That's all for today. Normal lectures begin tomorrow." Before we could get up to leave, the ping of the loudspeaker went off.

"Attention all teachers! Please head down to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and remain on school grounds until further notice."

Our teacher let out a small "Hmph!" at the announcement, and looked back at the class. "You heard it. Don't go anywhere 'til you're told to." He left the room to the students, and immediately, everyone started to murmur and chatter about what they just heard.

Before it could really pick up in volume any, the sound of sirens attracted everyone's attention, and we all started to huddle around the window.

'What is up with the fog…?' I thought to myself as I peered through the glass. I could barely make anything out. 'And those sirens… that was too close for comfort. And that, along with the announcement…'

I turned back and began to walk back to my desk, watching as a seemingly happier Matsuda began to chat with the green-clad girl that saved me from Morooka's… lecture?

 **POV: Matsuda**

"How much longer do you think this is going to take…?" questioned Chie, leaving me to shrug.

"If those sirens meant anything, probably not for a bit," I answered. "Though I hope it's soon." 'I'd like to get home, thank you…'

Satonaka Chie was one of the few friends that I had. I met her sometime back in middle school. She was about my height, with somewhat short, brown hair. She wore this green sweater with some lighter green stripes, and had three pins… pinned… to the left side of the jacket.

"There really is no telling until they actually let us go…" said the girl in front of us.

Amagi Yukiko was a black-haired girl, with it going down to the center of her back. She wore a red cardigan over her uniform. Her face was heart-shaped, and her body was an almost perfect hourglass shape. She was certainly a beautiful girl. Hell, people created the "Amagi Challenge" to see who could date her.

And yet, despite being Chie's best friend, I never really got to know the ravenette. Neither of us really go out of our way to make friends like Chie did, and, personally, I was content with the simple acquaintance relationship.

"I should've left before the announcement…" Chie said aggitatedly.

"You'd have to have superhuman speed to do that. They gave us the notice right as we were dismissed," I responded. "Then again, knowing your 'ultimate training regimen,' you probably could've done it."

Chie rolled her eyes at my statement. "You're just upset that you can't handle it," she condescended.

"Uh…" I uttered out. "Now listen…" I sighed. "Touche," I finally said..

Her face formed into a victorious smirk, knowing that she had spoken the truth. Her face then morphed into a look of intrigue. "Oh! That's right… Did you guys try what I told you the other day? The thing about rainy nights?"

I shrugged. "Not yet. I sorta forgot about it…" I replied, with Yukiko giving the same response. Chie sighed.

"It's fine… It's just that this guy next door was yelling something about 'Yamano-san is my soulmate!'"

Before I could make an off-hand comment about that person's mental state, we were cut off by the school's PA system. "Attention all students: There has been an incident in the school district. Police officers have been dispatched throughout the school zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police. Go directly home."

'Incident…?' I thought cautiously. 'That can't mean anything good…' I looked over to my cousin and walked over to him.

"Let's get going," I suggested, before Chie ran up behind us.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" she asked, somewhat perplexed.

"He's my cousin," I explained. "He's bunking with me for the next year or so." Chie gave a little nod of confirmation.

"Well, do you mind if we join you?" I shrugged at the question, leaving the decision to Yu. He nodded and Chie gave a small smile. "Awesome!" She gave Yu a small bow as a greeting. "I'm Satonaka Chie," she introduced, before she gave a wave to Yukiko.

"This is Amagi Yukiko."

Yu and Yukiko bowed to each other. "It's nice to meet you," she said nervously. "I'm sorry that we're dragging you around all of a sudden…"

Chie nudged the girl in the side playfully. "C'mon, don't apologize like that. It makes it look like I have no upbringing." I would've made a comment (something along the lines of: "Wait, upbringing? You had one of those?"), only for a sharp look from her to immediately shut that idea down. She turned her attention from me to Yu. "We were just curious. Really, that's all."

Yu looked at me, to which I just shrugged. Yu turned back to Chie and said, "Sure. I don't see why not."

Chie gave him a smile, but we were stopped before we could leave. It was the guy who nearly ran over me. He walked up to Chie nervously, holding what looked like a DVD. His hair was brown and long. Well, for a guy it was long, and was wearing the school uniform, with his blazer buttoned up, though you could see that he was wearing a V-neck T-shirt under it that was white, with the collar being red.

"Uh, Satonaka-san…" he walked forward tentatively, his knuckles growing white from how hard he clutched the movie case. "It was really awesome. Their movements were amazing, and… uh…" he held the DVD case out in front of him, the title now clear to the world. "Trial of the Dragon…"

My eyes widened. That was one of Chie's favorite movies… If he somehow busted it…

The brunette bowed down and presented the case to Chie. "I-I'm so so so sorry about this! It was an accident! Please, just show some mercy until my next paycheck!" He picked himself up from his bow, and started to walk away. "Gotta go! Bye!" He almost got away. Almost.

Chie chased after him, and had managed to trip him before he could get out the door.

Chie gave him a glare, but left him to his wallowing in misery in favor of opening the case to her movie.

"What the…?! I can't believe this! It's completely cracked…" She said in an overly dramatic tone. "My 'Trial of the Dragon…!'"

"I-I think I cracked mine too… critical hit to the nads…"

I gave the dude a sympathetic look, before looking at the DVD. Yep. Right down the middle.

"My God… he managed to make them both perfectly equal halves… That's kinda amazing…" I muttered, getting a small sigh from Chie.

We left the brunette to himself and exited the school. Right as we got to the gate though, an… interesting figure popped up. His hair was short and disheveled, and he wore the uniform of a completely different school, which was made up of a gray suit with a red tie.

His eyes were settled on Yukiko, already leaving me to know what this was about. Apparently, even people from other schools want to get in on the "Amagi Challenge."

"Hey… You're Yuki, right?" He asked, not even bothering to greet her properly. I could already tell this guy was a creep. His tone of voice was off, and sort of detached. Besides that fact, he called Yukiko "Yuki." That alone sets off some red flags, especially since we've never seen this guy before.

"Do you wanna hang out somewhere?" he asked, confirming the suspicions I had formed in my head.

Yukiko gave him a befuddled look, caught off-guard by the guy's sudden appearance. "What…? Who are you?"

A few people had started to stare at this point, muttering about the "Amagi Challenge." I could hear a couple of them trying to set up a bet about it.

The boy, clearly uncomfortable with all the sudden attention, continued. "Are you coming or not?" He asked hastily.

Yukiko shook her head quickly. "N-No thanks."

The dude let a small glare come to his face. "Fine!" he cries out, before running off.

Yukiko looked over to Chie, confused about the whole ordeal. "Wh-What did he want from me?"

"A date, obviously," answered Chie, getting a surprised look from Yukiko.

"Huh? Really?"

"You didn't know? Sheesh…" said Chie.

"I may not be well versed on how to woo a lady," I started, "but something tells me that's not how you get one…" I mentioned. "He called you 'Yuki.' That's mildly creepy."

Before we could continue on our way, we were once again stopped, this time by a more familiar person. "Turned down another lovelorn soul, huh?" quoted the brunette from earlier, pulling up next to us on his bike. "So cruel… You got me the same way last year."

Yukiko got a contemplative look on her face, trying to remember when that was. "I don't recall anything like that…"

The brunette's face grew hopeful. "Wait, seriously? Then, do you wanna hang out at some point?!" he pleaded desperately.

"...I'd rather not," she replied quickly.

The brunette drooped over in despair. "Welp, that'll teach me to have hope…"

He immediately stopped moping and gave us a grin. "Well, don't pick on the transfer too much."

He rode off into the distance with his bike, leaving Chie to shout after him, "We're just curious is all!"

"Um… why don't we go…" Yukiko quietly spoke.

Chie nodded, looking around us. "Yeah. I think we're starting to attract attention…"

I looked behind us to see that Chie's shout had caused multiple heads to turn, causing Chie's cheeks to flare red in embarrassment. "Let's book it," I said.

 **Random Street**

"...And that's how I ended up in Inaba…" finished Yu.

"Ah… So that's why. Heh. I thought it would've been something way more serious…" responded Chie. "Well, there really isn't much here. I suppose that's what makes it nice… But there isn't really much to show you."

"Doesn't something from Mt. Yasogami give some sort of fame? I think it was dyes or something…" I murmured, more to myself than to Chie.

"Oh!" said Chie upon a realization. "There's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!"

"Huh? But… it's just an old inn…" said Yukiko, somewhat surprised.

"Oh no way! It's been in a bunch of magazines as some sort of hidden treasure. It's amazing! It's been going for generations, and Yukiko here is going to take over someday. It's probably what keeps this town going."

"I don't think that's entirely true…" I heard Yukiko half-whisper.

"Soooo…" Chie took a step closer to Yu, and gave him a small grin. "You think Yukiko's cute, right?" she questioned, leaving me to roll my eyes. Yu's face turned red and looked away from the both of them, leaving Chie's grin to widen.

"Is that blush I see?" I gave a small snort of amusement at my cousin's embarrassment.

"Come on, Chie… Don't start this again…" Yukiko said, only for Chie to completely ignore her.

"She's pretty popular at school, but she's never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird, huh?"

"C-Come on, stop it," she said, turning to the silverette. "You shouldn't believe that okay? It's not true that I'm popular, or that I've never had a boyfriend! Ah, wait, no! Wh-What I meant to say was I don't need a boyfriend!" She sighed. "Geez… Chie!"

Chie let out a small chuckle at the situation. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "but this is our chance to talk with someone from the big city, and you haven't said a word!"

She was about to continue talking, only to stop herself when we saw some commotion. I quirked an eyebrow at the large crowd at the intersection we had stopped at. 'Is this that 'incident' the announcement was about…?' I mused.

"I can't believe it was hanging from an antenna…" murmured one of the many people.

"It's kinda terrifying, isn't it?" responded a random woman. "I mean, a dead body? Hanging from a TV antenna…?"

"Dead body…?" I repeated, a sudden sense of discomfort filling me.

"Did I hear that correctly?!" questioned a suddenly spooked Chie.

I nodded to her, confirming her fear. Before I could say anything else on the matter, I was interrupted by a familiar voice, which filled me with a slight sense of dread.

"Matsuda?" I turned around to see, of all people, my father walking up to us.

'Great. Guess that means leftovers for dinner…' I thought.

"What are you guys doing here?" he questioned.

"We were passing by on the way back to the house," responded Yu.

My father nodded to himself, muttering, "Should've saw that coming… Damn principal. We told him not to let them through here…" He looked up at us, concern on his face. "You guys best stop wandering and go straight home."

Before we could begin to follow his advice, a younger detective, whom I recognized as my dad's partner, ran by us, finding a nice green bush to paint… green…

Needless to say, I stayed far away from that bush. 'Must've been one hell of scene…' I assumed.

"Dammit, Adachi! Quit acting like a rookie! Do you wanna be sent back to Central Office?!"

"S-Sorry, Dojima-san…" responded the younger detective.

Adachi Tohru wasn't anything particularly special to look at. He wore a black suit with a red tie. His hair was short and black, which made him out to be very generic in appearance.

"Just… Just go clean your face…" my father ordered. "We've got to gather some information…"

Adachi sighed and did as he was told, leaving with my dad to continue investigating.

"This must be what that announcement was about…" Chie summed up, looking down at the scene, leaving me to nod. She turned to look back at us and sighed. "Why don't we hang out some other time…?" she suggested.

"Yeah. That might be for the best," I replied.

"Alright then. I guess we'll see you tomorrow." WIth that final sentence, Chie and Yukiko left, leaving me to lead Yu home.

 **POV: Yu**

 **Dojima Residence**

Evening | Cloudy

Matsuda let out a tired sigh as soon as he walked in the door. He immediately walked towards the fridge and took out some leftovers from last night.

"Dad's probably not coming back tonight, Nanako," he spoke with a mixture of annoyance and disappointment, to which Nanako's face reflected that.

Matsuda, his food now cooked, sits down at the table, and requested that Nanako put it on the news.

" _Our top story this evening concerns a bizarre case in a quiet suburb. Around noon today, a woman was found dead near the Samegawa River in Inaba."_ It cut to a picture of our school zone, leaving me to make the deduction that this was what that earlier commotion was about. " _The deceased was identified as Yamano Mayumi, a twenty-seven year-old announcer at a local TV station. The initial results of the Inaba Police Department have revealed…"_

Nanako looked over to Matsuda, a sad look overcoming her face as she looked at her brother. "This is why dad isn't coming home tonight, isn't it…?"

Matsuda flinched from the question, only to swiftly cover it up with a false neutrality. "Yeah."

He looked down into his food, picking at it rather than eating it. He avoided eye contact with his sister very deliberately, leaving us with a very awkward and nearly silent dinner.

In the background, the news continued to broadcast, ignoring the tension that seemed to permeate throughout the room. " _It is unclear as to how the body was in such a state, and with the cause of death uncertain, has left the police to be debating on whether the death was an accident or a homicide. With a deep fog common to the area delaying their progress, it seems that they will have to hold off canvasing the scene until tomorrow."_

The news cut to commercial, leaving us with the Junes theme and Nanako repeating it.

"Everyday's great at your Junes!" she sang. I gave a small smile and followed her lead, thinking it might make her happy.

"Your Junes!" I sang, with Nanako looking up to me with a happy look.

"You memorized it already?" she asked with childlike wonder. I was just happy that I made the girl smile, and at the edge of my peripheral vision, I could see Matsuda giving me a grateful look from the corner of his eye.

I gave a small grin at the moment, despite how short it may be.

 **Word Count: 4438  
**

 **Sorry that this took literally two months to post. I wanted to, but my school started back up, and friends exist (surprisingly), and I was rather tentative about putting something I had written up like this on the internet. Despite that, I actually decided to finally update this story, because people actually enjoyed that first chapter, and are willing to actually follow my writing. I know I'm being redundant in saying that, but… eh.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Any constructive criticism is accepted gratefully.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Midnight Channel

**Actually managed to get this out within a month or so, so woop! This story's been one hell of a thing to type. I've pumped in about several thousand words or so per chapter, and I'm kinda proud of it.**

 **Hyakudori: Nice to see someone enjoying my writing! Thanks for actually taking time out of your day to compliment me.**

 **As per usual, leave a review or something with some constructive criticism, ideas, stuff like that. Not that I'm expecting it. I just like to have my oversized ego stroked. Like a dick…**

…

 **Awkwardness aside, enjoy!**

 _ **Chapter 3: The Midnight Channel**_

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 | Morning | Rainy

 **Road to Yasogami High School**

The walk to school was very much the same as yesterday. Same path, same people.

Matsuda nearly getting run over again.

"That's twice in a damn row…" He told himself, glaring at the same person who had come by yesterday. Though now he was stuck in a trash can.

I'm not even joking.

Matsuda and I walked over to the bin to help the poor kid. He was rolling around on the ground, pleading for any sort of assistance he could get.

"S-Someone…!" he struggled. Matsuda and I heaved him to his feet and carefully removed the trash can, revealing the brunette's face to us.

He shook his body like a wet dog, brushing himself off as well. He looked up at us and gave a thankful smile. "Thanks! You really helped me out…"

He looked up at me, and his face seemed to shine with recognition. "You're that transfer student. Narukami Yu, right?" He gave a small bow, to which I reciprocated. "I'm Hanamura Yosuke. Nice to meet ya."

"How's the bike?" Matsuda asked looking after it, before looking up at Yosuke with a small grin on his face.

Hanamura-san wilted over. "Wow… You're more worried about my bike than me…"

Matsuda sighed, rubbing his head with his hand. "That was a damn… joke…"

 **POV: Matsuda**

Why do I even bother…? I guess it doesn't really matter, because the conversation kept moving. "Did you guys hear about the incident yesterday?" he questioned with curiosity. "They found the announcer hanging from a TV antenna!"

"It's gotta be some kinda warning, right? I mean, there's no way it could've been an accident…" He mentioned. I nodded.

"It's not like she climbed up to the antenna and killed herself," I said thoughtfully. "And if she did, then she's got a more twisted sense of humor than I do." 'And that's saying something…' I silently added.

I felt my phone vibrate suddenly, and looked down to see a text from Chie. " _Class started. Where are you?"_ it read.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, taking to the road with my feet. "We're late!" I shouted back, getting them to quickly follow me on Hanamura's bike.

 **Yasogami High School**

I was surprised at how weak of a tongue lashing we got from King Moron (or whatever the hell else people called Morooka behind his back) when we got there. I had somehow beaten Yu and Hanamura by about thirty seconds, which shouldn't have been possible if they were on a bike…

Ignoring that, Morooka was busy… teaching… the class. "Be quiet, you idiots! Aren't you guys in high school?! Can't you please shut up during class?!" He… lectured.

"My job is to waste my precious time teaching you assholes philosophy! And since I'm that nice… I'll be straightening your rotten asses up in the process! Aren't you honored?!"

He paced the front room impatiently, pulling a book out from his desk. "Just so you know, I'll be going extra hard on the morons that're curious about the murder! Got?! Now get out your damn books!"

I can't fucking believe I got him two years in a row. Great. Thanks, luck.

" _You're welcome…"_

…

…

…

Welp, I'm just gonna forget that ever happened. It would probably do good on my sanity.

After School | Cloudy

I grabbed my bag and watched as Yosuke walked up to my cousin's desk. "Are you getting used to the place?" He asked..

Yu gave a small shrug before nodding. "Yeah, sorta."

"Wow, that was fast… I mean, there isn't really much to do around here, so I guess that makes sense. It's nothing next to the big city, but… Well, it's got that certain something to it. You can't get it anywhere else."

"Air's clean, the food's great," he continued. "Heh, but you wanna know what the local delicacy is?" Yu gave a little nod, and the brunette just smiled.

"It's freakin' steak! Like that's anything special…" He looked between Yu and I. "I know a cheap place to get some, actually. Do you guys wanna go get some? You helped me out this morning so it's only fair."

I shrugged. Free food is free food… "Why not?" I answered. Yu nodded with that, and the deal was made.

"What about me, huh?" said a nearby voice. We turned our head to see Chie walking up to us. "No apology? My 'Trial of the Dragon?"

"Best watch your mouth about steak when there's a Chie about," I jested the girl, leaving her to give an annoyed glower at me. I grinned at my small victory.

Yosuke could only sigh at the request. "What is with you and popping up when I talk about food…?"

"Did you not just hear me?" I asked.

Chie turned back to Yukiko behind her. "What do you think, Yukiko? Do you think he should treat us?" she asked.

"No thanks…" Yukiko stuttered out. "I don't want to gain any more weight. Besides, I need to help out at the inn today."

"Training to take over already?" Yosuke popped in.

"It's not like that," she said somewhat defensively. "I just help when it's busy." She was silent for a moment, "I should get going."

The ravenette left us to our devices, heading off to her inn. Chie shrugged casually. "Oh well. Let's go."

"Wait, do I really have to treat three people?! Three?!" Yosuke demanded, though we ignored him easily.

 **Junes; Food Court**

"This is the cheap place you were talking about?" Chie sighed out, obviously annoyed. Not that I could blame her. We're eating steak at a department store.

"Well when you jumped onto the freeloader train, I had to adjust my plans," explained Yosuke, his tone condescending in manner. He was carrying a tray of food, with various meats on it.

"That's hardly a reason to take us to your place," responded the brunette girl, leaving me and my cousin with a question.

Yosuke looked over at us and, noticing our expressions, explained. "I moved here about six months back. My dad got assigned as manager of the store. Our entire family came, and here we are." He placed the tray down and passed the food out to us. "And this is to welcome you to the town," he commented to Yu.

"And all of this is on me, so don't worry about paying me back," Yosuke finished.

"It's amazing how it's only been half a year since it opened, and I haven't really had to go to the Central Shopping District all that often," Chie spoke.

"Well most of the stores there are closed down, boarded up, et cetera," I conversed. "And with Junes' selection, it's just easier to come here," I said, before realizing what I had said and giving an apologetic look to Yosuke. "Uh…"

"You can't blame all of it on Junes, right?" he asked, before noticing someone at one of the many tables in the food court. His face almost got visibly brighter.

The girl he was looking at had light brown hair, and was wearing a Junes apron. She was staring down at the table, kinda pale, and seemed to be upset about… something. "Saki-senpai!" He looked down to us. "Sorry, I'll be right back," he said, before running after the girl he saw. Yu looked after him with a questioning look.

"Is that his girlfriend?" he asked curiously.

Chie let out a small snigger at the silver-haired boys question. "Ha! He wishes! That's Konishi Saki. From what I understand, her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district. She seems to be working here part-time, though…"

"That's bound to cause some drama…" I commented off-handedly.

This got a "probably," from the two of them, just in time for Yosuke to return, dragging Saki with him.

"Are you the transfer student?" she greeted Yu, a calm smile on her face. Yu nodded to the question and Saki continued. "You probably already heard about me. It must be nice to have someone else from the city to talk with," she said. "I don't usually see Hana-chan hanging out with the other boys often."

Yosuke let out a small noise of protest, before being overshadowed.

"I hope you get along with him," she spoke. "He's a good guy, but he can be pretty nosy at times," she said in what I assumed was a jokingly condescending way. "You need to tell him right to his face when he starts annoying you."

"I personally think he's a pretty nice guy," responded Yu, getting a chuckle from the girl

"I know… I'm only kidding."

She started to edge away from the table, leaving us with a smile. "Well, I should head back to work. See you."

"W-Wait, Senpai!" She left to go do as she said, leaving Yosuke to laugh to himself.

"Haha… She calls me nosy, but she's even worse in that regard," he commented. "She has a younger brother, and she treats me almost the same way as him…"

Chie let a mischievous grin overtake her features. "So you don't want her to treat you like a brother, hmm? I get it… I see how it is… The daughter of a local, family-run liquor store, and the scion of an invading chain… The flame of forbidden love…!"

"Wha-?! It isn't like that!"

"Seems like a real Romeo and Juliet situation to me," I quipped, getting a small laugh from Chie.

Chie turned her attention back to Yosuke, a grin still on her face from my joining in. "I think I know just the thing to help that lovesick heart out…"

She leaned into the table slowly, as if anticipating our excitement. "You ever here of the Midnight Channel?" she asked him, before continuing. "You're supposed to look into a TV that's unplugged, alone, at exactly midnight on a rainy night… While staring into the TV, another person should appear on it… your soulmate."

My face was blank, as well as Yosuke's. "That's the advice you were giving me?" he asked irritatedly. "For a second, I thought you were going to say something remotely useful. Why are you so excited over such a childish urban legend…?"

"Childish, huh?" she said, well… childishly. "You don't believe it, do you?!" she accused. Yosuke rolled his eyes.

"Obviously not!"

"Well, it's raining tonight! Let's all try it out! Then you'll see!"

"Wait, try it out?" I interjected. "Uh, but I-"

"You mean you haven't tried it our yourself?! Wow, I'm can't remember the last time you said something this stupid…" He let out a breath and changed the subject. "Putting that stupidity aside, what do you guys think about that incident?" he questioned. "You think it was murder?" He gave a small grin "What if the killer's still lurking around? Oooh! Hehe!"

"Yosuke!" said Chie. "You shouldn't joke about that!" She let out a sigh. "Look, all I'm saying is that you guys better try it out tonight." She got up from the table. "I'm gonna head off. See you."

We all said our goodbyes and headed home.

 **POV: Yu**

 **Dojima Residence**

Evening | Rainy

Matsuda, Nanako and I were surrounding our table, eating in a stoic silence. A silence that was quickly broken when I heard the front door open. Nanako's face started to glow at the sight of their father entering through the hallway.

He walked over to the couch. "What a day…" he said under his breath. He plopped down onto the couch ungracefully. "Did I miss anything?" he asked, getting a shake of the head from Matsuda. He sighed with a nod.

Nanako looked up at her father. "...You're late again…" she said tiredly. I could see Dojima-san flinch from that.

"Sorry. Work's been running me ragged… Can you put the news on?" he asked, getting a quick nod from Nanako.

" _Next, more details on the developing story on the incident in the foggy town of Inaba. Yamano Mayumi's body was found hanging above a house in this isolated town. Yamano was the woman who was involved in an affair with Namatame Taro, who was husband to the enka singer known as Hiiragi Misuzu."_

'I wonder if that incident had anything to do with this…?' I mused. 'But why would he hang the body on an antenna like that…?'

" _The police plan to investigate this, as well as question the people working with them at the time. In addition, we managed to get an exclusive interview with the student who found the body. We will now present this clip."_

"An interview with the kid…?" I heard Dojima-san comment. "Where'd they even find her…?"

They did a terrible job with the blur. Then again, I saw the girl earlier today. The face on screen was that of Konishi Saki. 'Well now we know why she didn't look too good earlier…' I thought, feeling sympathy for the girl.

" _What went through your head when you saw it? Could you tell she was dead? Did you see her face?"_ The interviewer bombarded the poor girl with questions.

" _U-Umm…"_ the girl stuttered out, clearly uncomfortable with the reporter's questioning.

" _Don't you find it scary that someone was killed on a foggy day?"_ continued the interviewer, completely oblivious of the fact that Konishi-senpai hadn't answered the inquiry.

" _She was… killed…?"_ she asked, her voice shaking for a second.

" _Er… So, did you see anyone suspicious around the area?"_ the reporter said, quickly changing the subject.

" _N-Not really…"_

" _We heard you had found it when you left school early. Did you have some personal business to deal with?"_

'That didn't even have anything to do with the investigation, or the murder. You'd think reporters would take a witness interview seriously…'

" _A tragedy that occurred near the local shopping district. Many storeowners are raising concerns about losing customers as a result,"_ the news droned on. I could hear Dojima-san muttering in response to it all, too.

"If they even _do_ lose more customers, it'll probably be because you won't quit talking about it…"

" _It's such a bizarre case, isn't it? I mean, hanging someone upside down from an antenna… That's gotta be some sort of warning, or some sort of sign from the culprit,"_ said one of many commentators.

" _Yes, but so far, no one has come forward to take credit for the crime…"_

"Plenty of prank calls though…" Dojima-san sighed out. I could see Matsuda developing a sort of distaste for it all too, his aloof expression forming into one of irritation.

"Yeah. Because someone actually wants to be caught for their crime. Makes total sense." he said sarcastically.

" _So the cause of death is unknown? And they don't even have a suspect? Taxpayers' funds are going to the police, and they can't even figure out if this is a suicide or homicide?!"_ continued the commentator from earlier. I looked at Dojima-san for a reaction, but he just closed his eyes with a huff.

It then cut to a commercial for Junes, leaving Nanako to once again repeat it. "Everyday's great at your Junes!" she sang.

She looked over to her father. "Hey Dad… can we all go to Junes together sometime?" she asked jovially, only to find herself disappointed at her dad's silence. I looked at the gruff man to see him sleeping in his chair.

Nanako sighed. "Geez…" She got up from her seat and started walking towards the hall. "I'll roll out dad's futon. Big Brother, can you grab Dad and get him into here?"

Matsuda let out an agitated huff and got up from his spot at the table, muttering to himself. "Of course he falls asleep on the couch… Wouldn't be the first time…"

He heaved his father onto his shoulder with relative ease, something which sort of surprised me. He looked over at me. "Why don't we head upstairs and prepare for the 'Midnight Channel…'" he suggested.

I nodded and waited upstairs for him.

 **POV: Matsuda**

I let out a short breath of air as I looked down at the bright light of my phone. 11:58. I tiredly stared up at my TV. A sense of nervousness ran through me, leaving me with a sense of dread and a chill up my spine. These lasted for a split second before fading away almost instantaneously.

'Great,' I thought to myself. 'I don't know how you do it, Matsuda, but you somehow spooked yourself…' I peeked past the curtain behind my couch to check to see if it was still raining. Sure enough, it was.

I motioned my hand towards Yu. "Go ahead and unplug it." The sense of dread came back with a vengeance, startling me.

'What the fuck…' I looked down at my phone. '5… 4… 3… 2… 1…' Midnight struck, and nothing happened. I almost let out a sigh of relief. Almost.

Before I could, however, The television in my room flickered to life, and I felt a strong sense of fear shoot down my spine.

I glared around, first at the screen, then the plug. Yep. Unplugged.

'That doesn't make fucking sense!'

"What in God's name…?!" I questioned, being careful not to not wake my anyone up.

The screen had this eerie green filter to it, with heavy amounts of static to boot. There was certainly someone on the TV, but I couldn't make their face out. They had light brown hair, and was wearing our school's uniform. In short, it was surreal.

"Holy fuck… It's… It's fucking real?" I asked myself, and I could see that Yu was almost as surprised as me.

I saw the silverette place a hand to his head, as if suddenly woozy.

He fell down to his knees, clutching his head, as if something had bored into it. Before I knew it, he was back on his feet, unsure himself of what just happened. Then, as if to prove to himself it was all real, he placed his hand into the TV.

Keyword: INTO!

I stared at the pulsing ripples that emerged on the screen from his hand, as if it was liquid. "JESUS CHRIST!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, any care I had for waking anyone else in the house was gone.

Why the fuck should I give a damn about them right now?! My cousin just stuck his fucking hand in the TV!

He continued to get sucked into it, eventually fitting his whole head through. Acting quickly, I grabbed him by the waist, and started pulling on him.

 **POV: Yu**

I don't know what just happened. I don't know why the hell it happened. All I know is that it happened.

It felt like my head was dipped in fog, with only a piercing, authoritative voice coming through.

" **I am thou… Thou art I… Thou art one who opens the door…"**

With the end of that sentence, the cloudiness I had felt had faded into nothingness, replaced with an uncontrollable urge.

I slowly paced towards the TV, ignoring my cousin's shouting in the background, and shoved my hand into it without any regard. To my utter shock, my hand went straight into the screen. It was like sticking your hand through a thin layer of a syrupy liquid, only for it to come out dry once it gets past.

I felt myself starting to get dragged into the miniature television set, and regained control over my own body. I was about head deep when the sides of the TV, as well as Matsuda pulling at my waist, trying to get me out.

He pulled with all his might as I pushed, eventually ripping me out of the screen. I heard a loud thud as Matsuda's scalp crashed into the corner of the table behind him, leaving him to jolt in pain.

"Ah! Shit!" he hissed, grabbing the back of his head. I ran over to him.

"You okay?" I asked him. He looked up to me, as if offended.

"Okay?!" He yelled in a panicked hysteria. "All that bullshit just happened and you think I'm okay?!" There was a pause in his words, his panic slowly dissapating.

"S-Sorry…" he muttered after calming down. He clutched the back of his head with a perceptible wince, and a small, red stain started to grow onto his hand.

"Dammit…" he cursed, looking down at the hand he used to cover it. "Great. I'm bleeding…"

He got up from the table and quickly opened his room door, only to see his sister staring him in the face, holding her hand up as if to knock.

"I heard yelling," she said quietly. "Are you having a nightmare again…?" she questioned. Matsuda's face seemed to lose some of its color as he answered.

"Er… No," he responded simply. His sister's eyes drifted to his bloodied hand and they widened considerably.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice filling with urgency. Matsuda looked at his hand quickly before sighing.

"I slipped and smashed my head into the coffee table…" he rubbed the back of his head, violently flinching as he did. "Probably gave myself a damned concussion, too…" He walked past his sister to what I assumed was to get some sort of first aid.

By the time he returned, his sister was in his futon, and his head seemed clear of any red, as well as his hand.

"I can't believe we actually had a first aid kit…" He muttered off-handedly, before looking over at me. "Where'd Nanako go?" he asked.

I pointed to his futon, where his sister had taken her place in. Matsuda let out a small sigh, and began to walk over to his futon. "Too old to be sleeping with your older brother…" he muttered, before laying next to her.

I sighed at the admittedly cute scene, and decided to nod off as well. I needed it after what just happened…

 **Word Count: 3747**

 **Not really sure how to feel about this chapter. I enjoy typing out Matsuda's character interactions, and with my friend proofreading everything (If I can actually get him to freakin' do it!), the grammar is usually pretty good.**

 **I don't know. I've really had a love of typing, and this is a story I've been brewing up for several years. I'm still kinda shocked with myself for actually typing and posting this. Also, how are you enjoying Matsuda so far? I hope I did fairly well in constructing and introducing his character. He's a fun thing for me to write. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, 'cause I enjoyed typing it. Give me some reviews, if ya want. And as always, constructive criticism is welcome.**


	4. Chapter 4: Down the Rabbit Hole

**Whoo! Finally done! What time is it? *Checks Date.***

 **Holy shit, it's February?!**

 **Sorry that it took as long as it has to get this chapter out. I've lacked motivation for this, and I've been focusing on other writing ventures. Whether or not I'll ever post said ventures anywhere ever is questionable, but for now, I've got my friends looking over it.**

 **Anyway, since almost every other writer I've seen on this site does this, I'm gonna reply to some comments.**

 **BloodRaven46:** **Surnames** _ **can**_ **be used as given names. I've already kinda established that his name is Dojima Matsuda, and it feels weird to go back and change his name. But I can definitely see how that can be annoying. Sorry if it's bothering you.**

 **Blade The Sneasel:** **Thank you for your time.**

 **Guest:** **You'll have to read to find out.**

 **Now, let us do as the title says, and go down the rabbit hole.**

 _ **Chapter 4: Down the Rabbit Hole**_

Thursday, April 14, 2011 | Morning | Rainy

 **POV: Dojima Matsuda**

When I woke up the next morning, my sister was gone from my side. I looked over at the TV in my room with a light glare, still unsure about last night.

A part of me wanted to forget about last night, call it a fever dream or something, and pretend it never happened. But at the same time, I couldn't deny the fact that my cousin shoved his _handintotheTV-_

Nevertheless, I lived on.

Despite my disturbed thoughts in the morning, Yu and I were somehow able to act like nothing happened. The constantly neutral look he had on all morning only served to tease my sanity more.

Noticing my sister, I gave her a small smile, attempting to ease the tension that seemed to be in the air. It didn't do much to help, obviously, but it at least lowered the atmosphere a bit.

We left a bit after eating, and walked our way to school.

After School | Rainy

 **Yasogami High School**

Murder was the word of the day, it seemed. Not that I was surprised about it. I mean, someone was found dead tangled in an antenna.

Everyone was coming up with some sort of theory as to what happened. Things from poisoning all the way to some sort of murder-suicide thing which doesn't make sense, since there wasn't a second body. I almost had half a mind to bring that up, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to them.

While the incessant chattering continued, I noticed out of my peripheral vision Yosuke approaching us. Yu and I turned our attention to him.

"Y-Yo… about yesterday on the TV… well, I, uh, saw…" There was an almost imperceptible pause, and sighed. "Nevermind… I'll tell ya later."

I was about to insist he continue, only for a certain green-clad girl to come and interrupt. "Did you guys hear the rumor?" she said, not waiting for an answer. "Supposedly, it was Saki-senpai who found the body!"

Yosuke accepted the news with a nod. "That explains her mood yesterday… Not to mention that she isn't in school today."

The conversation was quickly halted when Yukiko got up from her seat, with Chie noticing and greeting her. "Are you helping out at the inn again?" Chie questioned, getting a small nod from the black-haired girl.

"Yeah… Things are getting very busy. Sorry…"

She left the classroom, leaving us to our devices. "She seemed stressed…" Yosuke observed, getting a nod from Chie.

"Yeah. The inn must be really busy right now…" the tomboy said. "Moving on… You guys saw _it_ last night, right?"

"Well, what about you?" Yosuke sputtered out defensively, as if hiding his thoughts… well, that _is_ what he was doing.

"I saw it! I saw a girl… But… my soulmate was a girl?" This got a chuckle and a grin from me, getting a glare from the girl.

"Don't you dare-"

"This explains some things! OH, I'll get the cake for your coming out party-" I swiftly moved my body to the side, avoiding what could have been a _very_ deadly and painful kick. I would've spouted out another joke, but something about her glare was _really_ convincing. And, not wanting to risk my manhood, I wisely shut up.

Her glare burned on me and I started to whistle in an innocent fashion. She sighed. "Anyway, before _somebody_ -" more innocent whistling "-interrupted me, I saw a girl. She had brown hair, medium length. She was also wearing our school uniform!"

Yosuke looked at Chie with surprise. "Really? That sounds like the person _I_ saw!"

"Same here," I tossed in. "But that means that we all have the same soulmate… Well, I'm not _against_ a foursome…" Another sharp stare from Chie immediately quieted me.

Yosuke gave me a look for my joke and looked over at Yu. "Did you see the same?" A short nod.

"That… and a little bit extra…"

And thus, Yu explained what he saw to the two, confirming that reality did indeed slap me last night, and serving to get a very expected reaction to such a story. "Sucked into the TV?" Yosuke asked rhetorically, chuckling. "Must've been pretty tired. Or maybe you fell asleep…"

"Yeah," said Chie. "But it's an interesting story. I liked the fact that you managed to get stuck in the TV because it was too small," she said with some bits of laughter. "Which reminds me… my family's looking for a new TV."

"Well, flat screens are in nowadays. Wanna go check a few out at Junes?" asked Yosuke. "We're beefing up our electronics department this month, so you may find something you'll like."

Chie gave an enthusiastic nod. "Definitely. My parents don't know a lick about this stuff, and I've gotta watch my kung-fu on the big screen!" She jumped into a random fighting pose. "Hya!"

'Should I tease her and call her 'adorkable,' or should I keep my desire to live… that's a harder choice then it should be…'

I was about to ignore my own sense of self-preservation, but they were already out the door, leaving me to chase after them.

 **POV: Narukami Yu**

 **Junes, Electronics Department**

I let out a small huff of irritation as I watched Chie and Yosuke gawk over the large flatscreens. 'Of course they wouldn't believe me…' I suppose it did sound ridiculous. Putting my hand into a TV, and then sticking my head in. Then getting stuck and pulled out.

'Why was I inclined to tell them? Why did I think they would believe me?'

Matsuda was staring up at the TV's with a small grin on his face, its origin unknown to me (and probably safer that it is…).

"How do people even afford these things?" Chie questioned loudly. "Look at all the zeroes!"

Yosuke gave her a small shrug in response. "Dunno. I guess if they're rich? I mean, there's a reason we don't get many customers back here to begin with."

Now that Yosuke's mentioned it, there's almost no one here. In fact, the entire electronics department seemed empty going in.

"At least looking's free," Chie sighed out. The two brunettes then decided to walk up to the nearest TV and press their hand against it. Each one gave slight effort in pushing against the thing. "Nope. Can't get in."

I felt my eye twitch from that.

They both gave out little chuckles. "Yeah. And even if you could, these things are so thin you'd go right through…" He paused momentarily. "Wait, why would that matter anyway?" He smacked his own head. "Stupid…" His attention shifted from the TV to Chie. "Whatever. You said you were looking for a new one, right? What did you have in mind?"

"Something cheap," she answered.

Yosuke nodded and dragged her over to a nearby rack. "Then, Satonaka-san, may I suggest this one here?" he asked her. "It's one of our newest models: Just came out last spring."

While they were off doing their thing, I turned my attention to the TV in front of me. 'It wasn't just a dream… right?' Matsuda seemed unfazed by my earlier explanation, so I couldn't get a good enough reaction to tell if he remembered it or not, leaving me with only one other option.

I eyed up the television set, and after a quick moment of contemplation, I walked up to it and placed my hand against it.

It was like pushing into molasses, and I watched with no lack of wonder as my hand pushed through the screen, same as last night. Black and white concentric circles radiated off of the entry point, and I had my proof of the reality of last night.

Matsuda gave me a small frown. "You sure it's a good idea to do that in the middle of the day? I mean, what if someone comes by?"

'He has a point…' I concurred silently, and I looked over to see of the other two had noticed.

Yosuke looked over in our direction. "So, what kind of… TVs are… you.. Into…" His voice slowly weakened with each word as he came to the realization of what he was seeing.

"Yosuke?" Chie said, following the guy's line of sight. Her eyes widened tremendously and color left her skin. She looked over at the Junes kid. "Hey… Y-Yosuke, is that s-some sorta new model… or something…?" she questioned, in shock from what she was witnessing.

"'Funny dream,' huh?" I reiterated from earlier, only to receive no answer in return. Yosuke looked to be in the beginnings of a panic attack.

"That's a really neat trick, Narukami! So how does it work?! What's the magician's secret?!"

I let out a small smile at my little victory, before my eyes started to focus in on the television. A quick thought ran through my head. 'What if I…'

I slowly started to crawl into the TV, and Matsuda's face seemed to pale slightly. "Uh, Yu? I don't think that's a good idea…"

A quiet "Oh my God," from Chie seemed to emphasis the situation as I continued into it. I stopped around halfway or so, and looked around the space that I found myself in.

"It's very spacious in here…" I muttered, getting a reaction from everybody behind me.

"Now really isn't the time for curiosity, Yu!"

"What the hell do you mean by 'spacious?!'"

"'In here?'"

 **POV: Dojima Matsuda**

"Ah man! This is too much for my bladder!" I heard, which resulted in both me and Chie giving the most vicious glares we could muster to Yosuke.

"If you piss yourself next to me, I swear to God…" I left the threat hanging, while Yosuke kept bouncing around. He quickly took off in search of the bathroom, only to return not ten seconds later.

"Guys! Customers!"

If we weren't panicking before, we were now. I almost immediately went to pull Yu out of the damned TV he shoved himself in, while the other two panicked completely, running around in circles.

"Guys, if you don't stop that, you're gonna-" I was cut off by the feeling of two idiots against my body, and the sensation of falling…

 **?**

I hit the ground not even a second later with a thud, along with three others coming right after me. I groaned in pain, and slowly got to my feet.

"Ah, shit…" I moaned, by back aching from the hard landing.

"Pretty sure I cracked my ass…" I heard Yosuke mutter.

"Isn't that how they come…?" I responded in kind earning a glare from the brunette. I chuckled to myself, before looking around. "Now, on to more important things… such as where the fuck are we?!"

The air around us was filled with a dense, yellowish fog, with the only thing being seen through it all was a few random lights from the sky.

"What is up with this fog?" Yosuke questioned Chie.

'I'm gonna hate myself for this later…' "I haven't the-"

"If you say 'foggiest idea,' I will stomp you to death!" was her quick response, promptly shutting me up. If there was one thing this girl had, it was that her kicks _hurt._

'But do I really value my life that much…?' Weighing the options…

"I haven't the foggiest idea- OW!" The ever-painful sound of my foot being smashed. It was totally worth it.

"If you two are done," interjected Yu, "then can we focus on finding an exit?"

I sighed heavily. "I suppose you're right. It's not like God's gonna come and throw a door at our faces."

"But you can barely see in this fog…" I heard Yosuke panic. "How do you expect us to search like this?" he asked tentatively, getting a sigh from my silver-haired cousin.

"Pick a direction and walk."

I gave him the blankest stare one could give to a man. "Really…?" He left my question unanswered, and I pointed in a direction. "Direction found. Let us move."

We walked for what felt like hours. My feet ached from how long we had been going, which I estimated to be about an hour. It didn't help that there was absolute silence while we did so. It was uncomfortable, though I guess it wouldn't have changed much if there _was_ talking.

Eventually we came into what seemed to be some sort of bedroom. It was completely out of place from where we were before.

When entering the room behind it, I immediately felt a chill go up my spine, and I searched around the room cautiously.

Well, if the atmosphere wasn't enough, then the noose and chair in the center of the room freaked me the fuck out. On the walls were hundreds of copies of the same poster, the face of them torn to shreds. A bed sat in the corner of the room, and a large window next to it.

"I think we stumbled into a hotel room from hell…" I muttered, staring at the noose with no lack of worry.

Yosuke walked to the center of the room and held his phone in the air. After a few seconds of waiting, he groaned. "No service. Figures…"

"Can you guys slow it down a bit?!" I heard from the entrance. I looked over to see Chie had started lagging behind a while back. "It's hard enough to get through this place when you're practically blind…" She looked around the room and paled. "No way! It's a dead end!"

"Gah! Dammit! I can't hold it back anymore!" Yosuke suddenly shouted, shooting towards the corner of the room.

"Dude!" I called out.

"Ugh! I gotta go or I'll piss my pants!" He justified, getting an annoyed grunt from me.

"You've gotta be kidding me! You're just gonna go right here?!" Chie complained.

Yosuke shook a bit and shouted back at us. "Look away! I can't go with all of you watching!" He stood still for a moment, before he growled. "Dammit! If I piss myself, it's on your heads!"

"Like we care!" Chie retorted.

Once the chaos had blown over, everyone took a moment to examine the room. Everything about this place set off alarm bells…

"Why don't we get the hell out of here?" I suggested, getting a couple of nods.

"I've seen that poster before…" Yosuke mumbled, serving to tease Chie's ire.

"No one cares! I'm sick of this place! I just wanna go home!"

'Now that she's mentioned sick…' I mused. My body felt like lead, and I had what I thought was the beginnings of a splitting headache… "Chie's right, let's just go back…" I implored.

We somehow managed to backtrack to where we had fell in, and we stopped to take a short rest.

"So… Another direction then?" I said, only for it to be greeted with silence. I looked up at the others to see them staring in the distance. I followed their lines of sight saw some sort of egg-like silhouette.

"What is that…?" Chie questioned quietly.

The shape slowly approached us, eventually getting close enough for my vision to make out its appearance.

Purple and smooth fur ran across what was basically a walking bear suit, who was watching us with worry. He seemed scared.

"What the…" I let out. Normally, a sight like this would result in laughter from me. However, to see something so silly in a place like this… it unnerved me more than anything else. "What the hell…?"

"That's what I wanna know!" it suddenly exclaimed, getting differing reactions from everyone, with me simply enjoying a nice rush of goosebumps.

"It talks!" Chie noted. She quickly brought her fists up into some sort of fighting stance. "Wh-What are you?! You wanna go?!"

"D-Don't yell at me like that!" it shouted in fear, running to hide behind Yu's leg. I almost felt bad for the thing.

I tapped Chie on the shoulder. "Maybe it isn't the best idea to threaten the only living thing we've found down here," I suggested, getting a small sigh from her.

"You have a point," she said quietly.

"Do you know where we are," Yu suddenly asked the bear, getting a blank face from it.

"This place is what it is," it said. "There isn't really a name. It's where I live."

"Wait, you live here?" Yosuke asked it, getting a small nod.

"Yeah," it responded, looking around itself cautiously. "Though recently, weird things have been happening. And people are getting thrown in here." Wait, what?

"What do you mean by 'thrown in?'" I questioned, getting a somewhat solemn look from the bear.

"I dunno who's doing it, either. I just wished they'd think before doing it. It's dangerous. That's why I think you should leave." The sudden nervousness in its voice was not lost to me as it began waddling around.

"How are we supposed to do that?! There's no exit in sight!" Yosuke chimed in, getting a grunt from the bear.

"That's why I'm going to help you!" This earned some looks from us as he stamped his tiny feet against the ground. From the air, a tower of old-school TVs fell and crashed into the ground. 'The hell…' That was really the only comprehensible thing I could think of.

"Now get out of here! I'm a busy bear!" I felt fur start to brush against me, and I felt the sensation of movement.

"Whoa, watch it!"

"Hey, quit pushing me!"

I felt my head start to swim, and there was a swift change in scenery.

 **POV: Narukami Yu**

Evening; Rainy

 **Junes, Electronics Department**

I don't think the sensation of lying on a tiled floor ever felt as good to me as now. It was a joy to be out of such a… drab place.

"Are we back," I heard the voice of my cousin say, and I slowly pushed myself off of the floor. Taking a quick look around, I felt relieved to see the familiar sight of Junes, and I could tell the others were feeling the same.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked aloud, getting similar responses of "yes" from the others.

A loud ping rang through the store, and I looked up at the sound of an intercom going off. " _Attention shoppers, our evening sale in the produce section has begun. Why not try some fresh apples, or perhaps oranges?"_

Yosuke jumped at the announcement. "Ah! It's already that late?!"

"How late is late?" Matsuda asked.

"Like eight o'clock late!"

"What?!" Matsuda exclaimed. "Shit. I was supposed to buy dinner… Well, no better time than now, I guess." He was about to walk away, but something brought his attention to the wall.

"Okay, that's fucking terrifying," he said, his eyes scanning the wall.

"What?" Yosuke asked, only to freeze up at Matsuda's object of interest. It was a _very_ familiar poster of a Hiiragi Misuzu, that enka singer that was on the news recently.

"Does… Does that means there's some sort of link?" was my deduction, getting loud cries of protest from Yosuke.

"No way! Enough is enough! Today will be completely destroyed from my memories!"

"I'm inclined to agree," mentioned Matsuda.

"Yeah, let's go home…" Chie said.

The walk back to the Dojima residence was uneventful, though the occasional eye was cast between the two of us, and a thick tension seemed to be surrounding us. Matsuda made sure to stop by some place on the way back, and we eventually got home.

 **Dojima Residence**

The food Matsuda had bought sat on the table. Dojima was actually home, which was a plus, and we were all surrounding the tiny living room table.

"Sorry we were late. We were a bit… held up," Matsuda apologized, getting a shrug from Dojima.

"As long as you got home safely." The man's face was scrunched up in thought, and it seemed he was bothered by something. "I doubt you two would know anything about this, but do you know Konishi Saki?"

That's an odd question. "Not really. I met her yesterday, if it helps any," I responded.

He sighed at my answer, obviously not the one he was hoping for. "We got a call from her mother, and it seems she's disappeared. We've yet to find her, despite our efforts." A tired breath left him, leaving me feeling sorry for the man. "The work just seems neverending."

"It's bound to lighten up eventually. Like the tides," Matsuda said, doubtful of his own words.

"Even you sound like you doubt it." Well, it seems I wasn't the only one to catch that. Dojima wasn't very confident in the answer either.

That final comment left the room in a silence that was only drowned out by the sound of the TV in the background, which was basically talking about fog, and the weather. None of it was very interesting, and after a couple of minutes, Matsuda had finished and gone upstairs. I quickly followed suit, and we found ourselves alone.

 **POV: Dojima Matsuda**

Nighttime

"Fuck today," I let out, jumping onto my futon, not even bothering to change out of my uniform. Just gonna end up wearing it tomorrow anyway.

"I know how you feel," Yu replied. I chuckled.

"One hell of a way to introduce you to the town, eh? It was supposed to be simple: drag you around the shopping district for a bit and then throw you into the house. Then we end up with this whole TV shit." An audible sigh left my lips.

"God, why can't life just be simple and clean for once? All I wanna do it get through school and college, not get stuck in a damned TV."

"No kidding." Yu walked over to the nearby desk, placing what looked a laptop on it. He was quick to open it up and a webpage flickered on.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked him curiously.

"Emailing my parents."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Huh." I walked over and leaned to see the screen. "So what exactly do my elusive aunt and uncle do for a living?"

"They work for some overseas shipping company. It's why I'm here, actually." His face seemed to take a dip, and I felt guilt hit me.

'Welp, that's a landmine I stepped on,' I thought to myself.

"We didn't exactly leave each other on good terms, so I'm basically apologizing to them," he said. I felt myself wince. He did _not_ look happy in the slightest. In fact, he seemed almost bothered by the fact that he was apologizing in the first place. Or maybe it was the fact that he was talking about it in general.

'See, Matsuda? This is why we don't socialize!' "I'll, uh, leave ya to it then." I went to my futon to avoid the awkwardness, and felt my heavy lids cover my eyes.

 **Word Count: 4308**

 **Welp, after literal months of procrastinating on both schoolwork and this, I've managed to do something. And now it's finally done. It only took three months.**

 **I really do apologize for taking so long, but I've had zero motivation to work on this. I've tried multiple times to get back into it, but each time I just typed two words and said "fuck it." Finally, after a motivational speech from a friend of mine, I managed to get off my lazy ass and give you all another chapter.**

 **A combination of senior year crap, upcoming college, and me discovering new games and music and shit, along with me practicing some new styles of guitar (jazz is so fun to play), and the story sorta shifted into the back of my mind. BUT! I have returned with this chapter, and I plan to upload another chapter within a month. If you're actually following my story, and care about it, then thank you for the patience.**

 **As always, follow and favorite if you enjoyed, leave a review if you want. Constructive criticism is always welcome, as it will help improve my writing ability overall. Just try not to be a dick about it.**


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